Patio umbrella - unwelcome visitor!

13 years ago

So, we opened the patio table umbrella out at our camp.... and clinging to the under side was a bat! Hmmm.... what to do! We closed the umbrella and chose to sit elsewhere at the time. We don't want to kill him. Bats eat a lot of mosquitoes! And I didn't think trying to get him to let go and leave was really prudent. I could just picture him dropping right on my head! I'm assuming that when night fell, he probably crawled out and went hunting, but I bet he's right back there today!

I'm thinking an umbrella cover might be a good idea, but it would probably have to be one that tied shut at the bottom, or maybe had a velcro band wrapped around it. Just tying shut the bottom of the umbrella itself won't do it, because it's one of those made in two sections. Most of it is solid, but the top (in the peak) bit is a separate piece of fabric that lays down over the edge of the fabric on the bottom section. I'm thinking that's where the bat crawled in.

Has anyone every had this problem? If so, what did YOU do?

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Comments (10)

kayjones
13 years ago
The Bat won't bother you - he was just resting for awhile - he will move on when he is rested. I would LOVE to have Bats in my yard!
hounds_x_two
13 years ago
I'm thinking if you leave the umbrella open, he'll find a new resting place. Maybe you could install a bat box/house on your property.

This post was edited by hounds_x_two on Mon, Aug 19, 13 at 8:49
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jel48
Original Author
13 years ago
I didn't figure he would bother us intentionally, Kayjones. We do have a fair number of bats around and often see them flying over on a night when we sit out a little later by the campfire. I do have to admit, though, that the thought of him dropping off of the umbrella onto the top of my head made me a little nervous :-)

Hounds, I never thought of leaving the umbrella open. We closed it, thinking he'd leave when he was ready. The idea of a bat box/house did enter my mind, but then I was thinking there are probably a ton of natural sleeping places for bats out there too. I'm thinking the umbrella just happened to be convenient at the moment.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years ago
Leave it open today so that it can leave at dusk. Check the umbrella after dark and if the bat has left to go hunting....close it, cover it, or remove it entirely. It will return to a convenient roost and patio umbrellas suit them very nicely.

Bag houses are a nice thought but rarely prove successful.
FlamingO in AR
13 years ago
We had one resting in a fold in our flag on a still day. :) I love having bats around, but I think leaving the umbrella open for a while will discourage him from sleeping in there, but once you close it, he'll probably come back. If he can't get up in it, he might just try an overlapping fold area. They like tight, cozy places. We had one spend every day under our verandah steps for several summers. There was a spot that had 2 boards close together, about 3" apart, and he loved it there. Probably could have put 20 bats in there, though, they pack together nicely. LOL Now we have one or two that rest up on the main part of the verandah during the night and I'm sweeping off bat poop every day. I don't mind, though, because the mosquitos have been bad this summer, we've had so much rain.
chisue
13 years ago
I'd only be concerned that the bat could be rabid. If it's not acting strangely, it should just find a new home once you leave the umbrella open.
jel48
Original Author
13 years ago
Yes, as you mentioned Chisue, there is always the chance of running into a rabid animal (of any kind) and we do exist very closely with nature out there, so we are always on the watch for wild animals.

Flamingo, you make my one little bat 'close encounter' seem like not so much at all! And, of course it really isn't. We just need to find a way to encourage him to sleep elsewhere. They certainly do make a lot of droppings for one small animal, don't they? I was going to wipe the table off, to set our ice water on it, and there were tons of little black things on it. First, I thought they were debris from one of the trees back there. Then I was thinking, these look a lot like mouse poop, wonder how that would get here. And at that point, Gary noticed the bat immediately above!!

Rhizo, that's exactly what I was thinking about him coming back. I did look on Amazon.com and there do market umbrella covers. I'm thinking that one of them might do the trick, if it fits closely and is snug at the bottom. Leaving the umbrella up isn't really an option, since we don't live out there and wouldn't be around to go out and take it down if a strong wind came up. So if the cover doesn't work, we might have to go with taking it down and only putting it back up when we're there on the weekend or during an evening.
redcurls
13 years ago
A bungee cord should solve the problem once the critter leaves. Easier than removing a whole cover.
User
13 years ago
That's so cute. I have a bat house and never saw a bat in it. They are so very useful for killing mosquitoes . I used to see them more than I do now.
nola_anne
13 years ago
Put a piece of cardboard between the umbrella and the bat and a coffee can over the bat and remove him and set him free...it works perfectly!

I had a bat on my curtain and it was so easy, I wondered why I hadn't thought of it.

nola anne

Patio umbrella - unwelcome visitor!

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Patio umbrella - unwelcome visitor!

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